A few years ago I tried to start a furniture building class in the school system that I work. I was told that the State Board of Education has determined that this is not a career path and without credit potential, they could not fund it.

Guess these folks are wrong.

Then again – for your kids, may want to look into this.

-- David in Damascus, MD

14 replies so far

Yeah, I saw that on TOH, too. Let’s hope it goes somewhere. I think that it will. With the rising cost of tuition (that’s a bubble that’s gotta burst sometime soon, preferably before either of my children needs to make a decision on college) and with no guarantee of a job in your chosen field, I would think that more young people would be open to a job in the trades.

I wish I would’ve gone into a trade field in HS – our trade school was very limited though – auto,HVAC,cosmetology, and culinary. I didn’t want any of those. would’ve been a decent framer or trim carpenter. I think I would’ve dealt ok with the bias in the field. Oh well. I’m where I’m at for a reason. I saw that commercial spot on the HGTV channel I think and thought “way to go guys!” I’m with you Dave. Quite surprising the number of folks even in my generation that can’t do basic home improvements for themselves. I can’t remember the statistic Mike Rowe threw out. Something like 60% of folks hire it out?

-- Beka/Becky - aspiring jill of all trades, still learning to not read the directions.

they used to have trade schools called tech schools locally but they learned that they could make more money if they tried to be colleges and tied to a local college. So locally they all sold out and are now run by local state colleges so they can make money instead of teach an actual trade.Why someone wanting to learn how to be an auto mechanic needs to take psychology or history is beyond my comprehension. Its so the so called tech schools can force you to take more classes so they can make more money.If someone would open up a tech school or trade school that only taught how to do that one thing and nothing else then that would be wonderful.

they used to have trade schools called tech schools locally but they learned that they could make more money if they tried to be colleges and tied to a local college. So locally they all sold out and are now run by local state colleges so they can make money instead of teach an actual trade.Why someone wanting to learn how to be an auto mechanic needs to take psychology or history is beyond my comprehension. Its so the so called tech schools can force you to take more classes so they can make more money.If someone would open up a tech school or trade school that only taught how to do that one thing and nothing else then that would be wonderful.

- youdidntbuildthat72

Yeah, I hated gen ed requirements. I’m a math nerd…making me take “liberal arts” courses isn’t going to make me more relatable, just more insufferable.

I thought, for a while, maybe it’s so professors can keep their agendas full? But the professor at my school typically taught the classes to majors in that subject. Gen ed level stuff was typically taught by less senior staff. Oh well, guess you have to get something out of that philosophy degree :p.

-- "Ladies, if your husband says he'll get to it, he'll get to it. No need to remind him about it every 6 months."

There is a real peer pressure thing there. I have to admit that when I was in the HVAC trades, I felt that customers spoke to me like understanding English was a challenge for me. Even had a person ask me what sheepskin was on my wall to counter what their Engineers thought was the problem (that they were not solving). All I had was a Master’s HVAC license. When I solved what they couldn’t, they were genuinely pissed. It wasn’t until I got my degree that all that went away.

People, when you tell them you are or were in the trades, speak down to you, sometimes in a very condescending way. When you inform them that you in fact have a degree (graduated cum laude), some have even apologized to me. They thought I was one of “those” people. Some of the worst offenders are people with 1 or 2 semesters in college and they feel that they have a degree. When you ask them when they graduated, they cannot answer.

One of the things about the trades, you are a ‘working” person. Once you get to a level of master craftsman, your attitude changes and people treat you like the professional that you are.

Every year in my church, they honor the high school grads and have them walk by the mic and say what their plans are. Out of 20 or 30 in a batch, I’ve never heard one say “I’m going to be a meat cutter” or something like that, and yet meat cutters, carpenters, mechanics etc. come from somewhere. Apparently you have to fail at something else first. That’s a pity.